NEWS

Volta a Catalunya and Coppi e Bartali

Published Saturday, March 16th, 2013

Italian field and Spanish field for stages races in which LAMPRE-MERIDA will take part next week.

Merida bikes will cover Volta a Catalunya roads from 18 to 24 March.
In the World Tour race, the blue-fuchsia-jerseys jerseys will be worn by Durasek, Lloyd, Mori, Niemiec, Richeze, Scarponi and Stortoni.
Sport director Vicino will be supported by colleague Joxean Fernandez. In the staff there will be masseurs Bertolone, Bolzonaro, Napolitano and Redaelli, mechanics Baron, Carminati and Romanò and doctor Pollastri.

“The recent good performances by Niemiec and Scarponi allow us to approach Volta a Catalunya with the aim of being protagonist, especially in the summit arrivals stages in Vallter 2000 and Port Ainè – sport director Vicino explained – Anyway, the whole race will be demanding, so the team reliability will be important. Durasek and Mori already showed thy could be key riders and we’ll rely also on Stortoni, who performed good trainings after he had quit Tirreno-Adriatico because of the temperature. We’re very interested in the European debut by Lloyd and Richeze: each one for his own characteristics could be very useful for us”.

Since 20 to 24 March, Coppi e Bartali will be the Italian test for LAMPRE-MERIDA. Sport directors Maini and Piovani will rely on Bono, Cunego, Ferrari, Malori, Pietropolli, Ulissi and Wackermann.

“I chose to race Coppi e Bartali as final step in the approach to Vuelta al Pais Vasco – Cunego explained – The course is suitable for my qualities in order to enrich my fitnees. I’d like to try to compete for the overall classification: the second stage and the third one, that both are characterized by demanding climbs, will be important for the final ranking”.

Ulissi is ready to support Cunego: “After two tough appointments such Paris-Nice and Milano-Sanremo, I’ll take part in Coppi e Bartali with huge sprurs. I’ll be happy to support Cunego in reaching his goal”.